Out of the 35,000 people who live in Del Paso Heights in northwest Sacramento, one in five is on public assistance and one in four receives food stamps.

Del Paso Heights has no chain supermarkets, and yet one in 10 households has no car. So, for many of these families, their food comes from Jimmy's Deli and Market, one of two independently owned grocery stores in the neighborhood.

Clearly, Jimmy's is a key factor in meeting the residents' nutritional needs. Now, with the help of UC Davis project funded by a grant from the California Cancer Research Program, Jimmy's is doing an even better job — with an expanded produce section. Added to the typical fare of potatoes and onions are such local items as fresh broccoli and bok choy, celery and cilantro, pears and persimmons.

"This is an experiment to see if making healthier foods more available will lead to a healthier diet among the residents of this neighborhood," said study director Diana Cassady, an assistant professor of public health sciences at UC Davis.

"There is a wealth of research showing that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is protective against certain cancers and other leading causes of death in this country, including heart disease. But it's hard for people to make healthy food choices when it's nearly impossible for them to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables."

To transform Jimmy's, Cassady provided the store's owner, Ker Vue, with a refrigerated display case and 40 additional linear feet of space for produce.

The project brought in consultant Nathan Cheng, former owner of Nathan's Produce in Berkeley, who met with Vue every other week for four months to help him optimize his store's layout and coach him in sales and marketing.

"This is a good program for the neighborhood and the community. It is healthy for people," Vue said. He and his wife took ownership of the 2,600-square-foot Jimmy's on May 4. They celebrated a grand reopening with the expanded produce section in early November.

The California Cancer Research Program made a $750,000 award to Cassady for efforts to improve inner-city residents' access to healthy foods, and thereby help improve the people's health.

Cassady's project invested about $25,000 in grant money in Jimmy's market improvements and consultant fees. The grant also is funding Cassady's work to build healthier menus in Los Angeles restaurants.

Research suggests that access to healthier foods is associated with consumption of healthy foods. For example, a University of Washington study found that people who live near supermarkets are significantly more likely to purchase low-fat milk and whole-wheat bread if the stores carry those healthy choices.

Conversely, a University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, study showed that people who live farther from supermarkets are likely to consume fewer servings of fruits and vegetables.

The "grocery gap" in low-income urban neighborhoods has long been of concern to public health experts. A 1995 study of 21 major metropolitan areas nationwide conducted by University of Connecticut researchers found a third as many supermarkets in low-income areas compared with high-income areas.

Said Cassady: "Families who do not own cars must rely on the bus or shared rides to travel to another part of town to find a supermarket, or buy groceries at small neighborhood stores that may offer a poorer selection at a higher price."